Machine for drying hides, skins, and the like



Dec. 5,- 1933. A. HOYT 1,937,699

MACHINE FOR DRYING HIDES, SKINS, AND THE LIKE Filed March 6, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 5, 1933. A. HOYT MACHINE FOR DRYING HIDEJS, SKINS, AND THE LIKE Filed March 6, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 lzivezifoi' Dec. 5, 1933. A. HOYT 1,937,699

MACHINE FORDRYING RIDES, SKINS, AND THE LIKE Filed March 6, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 W I? I I Q5, M fltianmgg Dec. 5, 1933. A. HOYT 1,937,699

MACHINE FOR DRYING HIDES, SKINS, AND THE LIKE Filed March 6, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 TQ i Dec. 5, 1933. A, HQYT 1,937,699

MACHINE FOR DRYING HIDES, SKINS, AND THE LIKE Filed March 6, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 r h u e u E Patented Dec. 5, 1933 MACHINE FOR DRYING RIDES, SKINS, AND

THE

LIKE

. Aaron Hoyt, Haverhill, Mass. Application March 6, 1930. Serial No. 433,616

4 Claims.

The present inventionrelates to drying machines, and more particularly to machines for drying hides, skinsand the like. i

Anobject of the invention is to simplify and 5 improve upon present-day drying machines, to

the end that their eificiency may be increased,

their :cost of manufacture lessened and the time for drying reduced. Other objects will be explained hereinafter and will be particularly 10 pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention will be explained in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a machine constructed according to .a preferred embodiment of the present invention, with parts broken away and other parts removed for clearness; Figs. 2 and 3 are, respectively, a plan and an elevation of the same; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of a detail; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the same, taken .20 substantially upon the line 5-75 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows, showing also one of the frame-holding racks; Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken upon the line 6-6 of Fig. 5, looking in the direction of the arrows; and Fig. 7 is a perspective of a skin-holding rack.

The drying machine apreferred embodiment of which consititutes thepresent invention is shown contained in a vertically disposed, cylindrical housing 2, provided. with a vertically disposed opening 4that may be closedby a door 5. Substantially plane racks 6 (one of which is shown at the left of Fig. 5, and another in Fig. '7), upon which wet hides, skins or the like 8..are stretched, may be mounted upon the machine through the opening 4, and they may be removed from the machine throughthis same opening 4 after the articles 8 have become dried. The machine is, in practice, used more particularly for drying hides or skins, usually after the tanning operation, though obviously the invention is not restricted to this particular use.

The drying machine is shown cylindrical or circularin form, and it is rotatable abouta pivot or post 10 disposed at the axis of the cylinder.

After a rack 6 has been mounted upon the machine through the opening 4, the machine is given a, slight turn about its axial pivot or post 10, in order to position another part of the machine near the opening 4. Another rack 6 is then mounted upon the machine, and the machine is given another slight turn about its axis 10. This operation is continued until the machinehas become fully loaded with the hide or skin-bearing racks 6, whereupon the rack 6 first mounted upon the machine will have returned to the opening 4. During its progress around the circle, the skin or skins 8 (for each rack 6 may, if desired, carry two or more hides or skins, one or more upon each side of the rack) have had an opportunity to become dried, preferably by the means hereinafter described, so that it may, upon its return .to the opening 4, be removed from the machine, and another rack or the same rack, with wet skins, substituted therefor. The process of drying the articles 8 is thus continuous, and may be kept up without interruption,

until all the skins or hides have become dried.

It is found, in practice, that the time of drying is greately hastened, and the resulting leather is of superior quality, and .this'with a machine costing comparatively little to construct.

The machine comprises a lower horizontally disposed, annular disk 12 carrying lower tracks 24 and a similar and similarly disposed upper annular disk 14 carrying upper tracks 26. The disk 12 comprises concentric metal rings or disks 16 and 18, respectively disposed directly below corresponding rings or disks 20 and 22. The lower tracks 24 connect together the lower rings or so disks l6 and 18, and the upper tracks 26 the upper rings or disks 20 and 22. The inner rings or disks l6 and 20 are connected by struts or rods 28and the outer rings or disks l8 and 22 by similar members 30. The cylindrical frame thus formed is secured to cross irons 32 and 34, provided at their intersection with a bearing 36in which the axial pivot or post 10 is mounted. The cylinder is thus free to rotate about the pivot, and may becaused to do so in any desired manner, as by hand, or by means of an intermittently operating motor. Hand operation is illustrated. A handle 3'7 is fixed at oneend of a rock shaft 39 that rocks in bearing 41. An arm 43 is fixed at the other end of the rock shaft 39,130 which is pivoted at 45 a lever 47. One end of the lever 47 is weighted at 49 and the other end is provided with a recess 51 adapted to engage the successive channel tracks 24. By rocking the handle 37 to the left, as viewed in Fig. 3, the lever 47 will be moved to the left, causing the recess 51 to become engaged under the next track 24 to the left. Upon the lever 37 being actuated to the right, the cylindrical frame will be moved over one step to bring the next track 24 opposite to the opening 4. One rack 6 may then be removed and another substituted.

The cylinder is provided with a circular,

angle-iron track 53 that rests upon a plurality of antifriction wheels or rolls 38, that turn during the rotation of the cylinder, thus reduce the force required to be placed upon the handle 37 to turn the machine. The angle-iron tracks 39 engage the rolls 38 over a smaller area, the further to reduce the turning force.

The tracks 24 and 26 are disposed above each other in pairs, each pair in a vertical plane, and may conveniently be formed of channel irons, facing each other, so as to receive one of the racks 6 between each pair. By reason of the above described construction, the tracks 24 and 26 extend, from the periphery of the cylinder to the inner rings 16 and 20, and they are shown long enough to hold the racks 6 between the inner rings 16 and 20 and the outer rings l8 and. 22. A free, unobstructed cylindrical space is thus provided along the axis of the cylinder, within the inner rings or disks 16 and 20.

This space is utilized to receive the drying fluid for drying the hides, skins or the like 8. This drying fluid may be air. A fan 40 may be located above or within the said cylindrical space. The fan 40 may be driven in any desired way, as by. means of a pulley or motor 61. The air, which may be previously conditioned, is thus driven downward in the said cylindrical space, along the axis of the cylindrical frame. A plurality of deflectors or baffle plates, 42, 44, 46 and 48 are disposed, one above the other, in the said cylindrical space, in order to direct the dryingair currents produced by the fan 40 into contact with every part of the skins Bcarried by the racks 6. To effectuate this purpose, the de flectors 42, 44, 46 are shown annular in form, with the central openings 55, 5'7, 59 thereof of successively decreasing width, and the deflector 48 is disk shaped, without any central opening.

Some of the air currents directed downward by the fan 40 are, therefore, deflected into the ,upper portions of the skins 8 by the'deflector 42, and the rest pass down through the central opening of the deflector 42. 'Ofthe air currents that pass through the deflector 42, some are deflected thereby into intermediate portions of the skins or hides 8 and the rest pass on to the deflector 46. The deflector 46, in its turn, defleets some of these air currents into other portions of the skins. The remaining portions of the air currents pass on, through the opening '57, to the deflector 48, by which they are deflected into the lower portions of the hides or skins 8. By adjusting the positions-of the deflectors, and varying the sizes of their central openings, it is possible to' direct the air streams so as to have all parts of each skin 8 subjected to substantially equal air-drying volumes. All partsof the skins 8 are thus dried with equal effectiveness and in the same time. Adjustment of the baiiie plates 42, 44, 46 may be effected by sliding them on the rods 28 and tightening collars 29 beneath the baffle plates. In this mannor, the drying fluid is directed downward along the axial space along a space extending from the top ends to the bottom ends of the racks, is deflected by the baffle plates in directions radiating from the axis of the cylindrical frame edgewise of the racks in the planes of the racks and between the racks throughout the complete region from the upper ends to the lower ends of the racks, and then returns upward along the annular space between the housing and the frame, being then sucked inward and downward again along the axial opening. The fan-driven be located above the fan also.

air travels through all parts of the machine and finally leaves by the open top of the casing 2.

The drying process may, of course, be hastened by heat. It is, therefore, preferred to heat the air supplied by the fan 40. This may be done in any desired manner, as by means of steam pipes or other heaters 50. Machine heaters are satisfactory, tending to help the downward travel of the heated air. The heaters 50 are shown just below the fan 40, but they may, of course, The location of the heating element above the fan is preferable, becausenot interfering with the work of the deflectors, but the illustrated location has been found very eflicient. The degree of heat may be controlled by a thermostat 52 contained within the casing 2 and controlling a valve 54 in the steam pipe 56. The volume of heating steam supplied to the heater 50 is thus controlled in accordance with the temperature of the air in the casing 2. r

The machine is found to operate very satisfactorily, the temperature within the casing being substantially uniform, and the humidity varying but very slightly. It is possible, in from one or two hours, depending upon the design and the amount of heat and air supplied, to complete the drying operation of 104 skins 8, or more (the frame holding 52 racks). The machine may be operated with unskilled help, at a minimum cost for labor. The machine itself is of exceedingly simple construction, and costs very little to build. The resulting leather is of superior quality, with tighter grain and firmer feel.

Modifications will occur to persons skilled in the art, and all such are considered to fall within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A drying machine comprising a vertically disposed substantially cylindrical frame rotatable horizontally about the axis of the cylinder of the frame, the framehaving a plurality of pairs of upper and lower tracks, the pairs of upper and lower tracks being disposed in planes substantially radiating from the axis of the cylindrical frame, a plurality of substantially plane drying racks on each of which hides, skins or the like are adapted to be stretched, the racks being each adapted to be positioned in a pair of the tracks, and means for directing a drying fluid against the racks.

'2. A drying machine comprising a vertically disposed, cylindrical frame rotatable horizontally about the axis of the cylinder, the frame having a plurality of upper and lower tracks disposed radially of the frame in pairs, a plurality of drying racks each adapted to be positioned in apair of tracks, means for directing a drying fluid axially .of the frame, and a plurality of deflectors for deflecting the drying fluid from the axis of the cylinder and upon the racks.

3. A machine for drying hides, skins and the like comprising a vertically disposed cylindrical frame rotatable horizontally about the axis of the cylinder, the frame having a plurality of upper and lower tracks disposed radially of the frame in pairs and. extending from the periphery of the cylinder to points spaced from the axis of the cylinder, whereby a space is provided along the axis of the cylinder, a plurality of annular deflectors disposed in the said space at different levels, the central openings of the deflectors being of progressively decreasing size, a plurality lie of drying racks on each of which hides, skins or the like are adapted to be stretched, the racks each adapted to be positioned in a pair of tracks, means for directing a drying fluid axially of the frame in the said space in the direction of the said progressive decrease in the size of the defiector openings, whereby the drying fluid is deflected by the deflectors upon the racks,

means for heating the drying fluid, and means for controlling the heating means.

4. A drying machine comprising two substantially concentric lower supports, two substantially concentric'upper supports similar to the lower supports and similarly disposed, a plurality of lower tracks carried by the lower supeach adapted to be positioned in a pair of the tracks.

AARON HOYT. 

